Everyone is winding down around here. I only slept for 5 1/2 hours last night, so I'm pretty tired, even though it's only 10. We'll see how long I can hang on. It's easier to stay awake when I have a deadline staring at me! Books are too comforting. xD

You know how they say to not have your phone or computer on while you sleep, because the blue light keeps you awake? I'm doing the opposite of staying away and working on a visual novel on my phone. Hopefully it'll help.

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These last couple hours have flown by! I got some good reading done once I left my mini-challenge alone to gather entries. Soon I'll be posting the winners for that!

I went to Barnes and Noble and got a quiche, a cupcake, and some hot chocolate and really read hard. In that time, I completed both volumes of All You Need is Kill. And then cried a lot. Seriously, that one gets to me.

Nine hours left. Onward!

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1. What are you reading right now? Nothing, sadly. I'll be back to it soon!2. How many books have you read so far? Two and a half. Sad total.3. What book are you most looking forward to for the second half of the Read-a-thon? Ooh, all of them, probably. Maybe Nisekoi, vol. 4.4. Have you had many interruptions? How did you deal with those? Only, oh, five hours of work and another hour of picking up my sister and getting her food. Plus an hour and a half finishing the mini-challenge post. Haha. I guess you've just gotta roll with it!5. What surprises you most about the Read-a-thon, so far? How many people are participating! I've been doing this for a while, and our totals this year are crazy!

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We're officially half-way through the read-a-thon! How are you feeling? I'm sure you've all been reading very intently, so we're going to do something a little different for this challenge... Cosplay!

For those of you who don't know what cosplay is (you're a majority, I'm sure), the term "cosplay" is a Japanese combination of the words "costume" and "play". At its essence, cosplay involves dressing up as a fictional character and adopting their mannerisms, body language, and ways of speaking (though cosplayers go out-of-character from time to time). People who cosplay are called "cosplayers", and they can be frequently found at comic, anime, sci-fi, and other conventions.

Many cosplays are incredibly elaborate and include careful costume and prop construction, fanciful wigs, and full make-up (feel free to browse cosplay.com for some stunning examples). However, I tend to prefer a simpler type of cosplay known as "casual cosplay". A casual cosplay is made up of everyday items and things you might wear anyway; there's something fun about dressing up in a non-dressed up way.

Now that you have a little bit of background, it's time for me to introduce the challenge (entry form located here):

Dress up as a book character! This can be a character from something you are reading today or just an old favorite, and graphic novels totally count, too! You can see some examples of mine at the end of this post. All you have to do is keep in mind the three C's (I sure like alliteration):

Casual. Wear something your character would wear on a normal day. Don't wear fancy uniforms or armor, even if you already own them. Printed t-shirts or other items with logos, however, will be permitted.

Closet. A closet cosplay is where a cosplayer creates a costume using items found in their closets (or thereabout). So for this challenge, all items used must already be in your possession. No sneaking out to buy supplies! Borrowing from a friend or family member is allowed, though.

Cosplay. The point of cosplay is that it is something you can wear. If you personally don't want to dress up, see if you can coax a family member or roommate into doing it for you. If you absolutely can't find anyone, laying out the outfit will work, as well, but it must be a full outfit (no skipping the pants or shoes or anything). In addition, do your best to adopt the mannerisms and expressions of your character! If she's a tough military girl, wear your best tough face. If he's a snobby student, wear a sneer. It's all part of the costume, after all. Crossdressing and genderbending are totally allowed!

Once you have your costume assembled (and hopefully pulled on), take a picture and post it on your blog, Instagram, Twitter, or whatnot! Include the character's name, the book they are from, and a short description of the character and/or why you chose what you did. Then come fill outthis form to be eligible for prizes! (The form will close in three hours, at the beginning of Hour 16.)

I will be choosing and contacting three winners. One will be randomly chosen from all the entries and will get to select a prize from the Read-A-Thon prize page. The other two will be chosen by me based on their costumes: the Most Accurate Award and the Most Creative Award. Since "cosplay" is a Japanese term and many cosplays are inspired by manga/graphic novels, I will be sending these two winners a manga volume, chosen based on what I perceive their preferences to be according to their read-a-thon or other posts. I will contact the winners through the e-mail addresses they give me and will also make a post about the winners and with MY casual cosplay at the conclusion of this challenge.

Phew! That was a lot of info. Thanks for sticking with me! If you have any questions, leave a comment and a way to contact you, and I'll get back to you ASAP! To inspire you, here are a couple of my favorite casual cosplays (L from Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, Piper McLean from Heroes of Olympus by Rick Riordan, and Kiyoko Shimizu from Haikyuu!! by Haruichi Furudate):

FINALLY done with work! I read as much as possible for a girl who has to get up every few minutes to help people do bank transactions... But I'm really, really glad to be back home! Fewer distractions, but I'll still have to leave to pick up my sister soon. I just wanna read!

In any case, I finished Nisekoi, vol. 3, and it was adorable. I'm reading All You Need is Kill now (#obataismyhero), but once I'm done with that, or maybe even before, I'll be starting in on a legitimate, all-text book. Or at least mostly text (looking at you, Hyperbole and a Half).

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This year's a bit wacky, so I'm revamping my goals somewhat. We'll see how they go.

Total things read: 10
Books read: 4 (As in, actual wordy literature-type books--though light novels count! I won't be doing as many of these as I've attempted in past years, so this will be a good place to start.)
Manga read: 3
Manga read in Japanese: 1
Visual novel routes read: 2 (They take longer than I think they will every time! So wordy...)

Since I'm moving to Japan soon, I'm working hard on my language skills. That's why I'm going to try to finish a book in Japanese. A graphic novel type of book, but a book nonetheless.

Also, because I know some people will ask, a visual novel is a type of wordy game. I tend to describe the ones I play as chick-lit with pretty pictures that you get to make choices in. Basically, it's in first person and you read all the dialogue and choose options to change the outcome of the story, like a choose-your-own-adventure book from way back in the day. But cuter.

I'll also be trying to accomplish these things:Challenges completed: 10 (unchanged from last year)Comments left: 10 (though I'll be tweeting up a storm; maybe at you!)

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1) What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
Salt Lake City, UT!

2) Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
Ugh, I don't even know. They're all so different and so good in different ways. Here's a quick sample for those who are curious:

Leviathan, by Scott Westerfeld

The House of Hades, by Rick Riordan

Accel World, by Reki Kawahara

Hyperbole and a Half, by Allie Brosh

Princess of Tennis, by Jamie Lynn Lano

Nisekoi, by Naoshi Komi

ハイキュー！！, by Haruichi Furudate

A couple Voltage Inc. visual novels

3) Which snack are you most looking forward to?
No clue. I'm gonna try to not eat too much, since the lack of sleep/sitting around can easily lend itself to weight gain. I have a triathlon coming up, after all... That said, I always like the part of the day where I go sit at a cafe for a while to get a change of scenery. Hot chocolate makes me happy.

4) Tell us a little something about yourself!
Hi! I'm Elisabeth! I'm an artist and musician who believes that the best inspiration comes from being well-read. I'll be moving to Japan next year, so this is my last read-a-thon in my home country. Hope it goes well!

5) If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?
Today is going to be rather strange. Most years I've been able to avoid most of my duties for the day, but this year I have work, triathlon training, some editing to do, and a lot of art to catch up on. I'll be utilizing lots of graphic novels and short fun reads to try to fill in the gaps when possible and audiobooks for when I need my hands and eyes free for other things. My reading activity may be down a bit, but it should still be fun! I haven't gotten to do much for-fun reading over the last few years, so it's nice to dedicate ANY time to it, even if I can't quite do the full 24-hours.

Oh, and I'll be hosting a mini-challenge! Look forward to it!

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